Names dropped from voter rolls

By Zenaida Serrano Espanol
Advertiser Staff Writer

More than 100,000 names have been removed from the statewide voter registration database in an effort to get a more accurate picture of voter participation numbers, elections officials said yesterday.

State and county elections officials last week removed 103,792 names of people who have died, moved out of the state, or for whom voting status could not be ascertained, said Kaua'i County Clerk Peter Nakamura, president of the Association of Clerks and Election Officers of Hawai'i.

"When we do have our election come 2004, our turnout figure will be a truer picture of the people who are registered to vote," said Honolulu City Clerk Genny Wong.

In the general election last year, 385,462 Hawai'i residents voted, 57 percent of the old total of 676,242 registered voters. Based on the updated figure, 2002 voter turnout was 65 percent.

"Naturally I would imagine the percentage of people who are going to be voting should be higher because the number that we post as our voter registration figure is more reflective of what is truly active voters," Wong said.

The names of 75,189 voters were purged from the City and County of Honolulu, 12,401 from Hawai'i County, 11,595 from Maui County and 4,607 from Kaua'i County. Nakamura said the purging was based on federal guidelines of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993.

The removal of names is just a matter of maintaining voter registration rules, Nakamura said. "We believe that it adds to the integrity of the elections process."

Reach Zenaida Serrano Espanol at zespanol@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8174.